Mid Pen's 5 New Screens Fill An Old Void

Screen Time

August 11, 2000|By MIKE HOLTZCLAW Daily Press

The Middle Peninsula region gets a new multiplex this weekend, as the Essex 5 opens for business in Tappahannock.

The theater is owned and operated by Paul Sanchez, a Maryland businessman who operates a small chain of cinemas along the East Coast. The Essex 5 fills the void that was left a year ago when the Daw - a decades-old single screen movie house in Essex County - closed down.

The first films showing at the Essex 5 are "The Replacements" and "Bless the Child" - which open nationally today - as well as "Scary Movie," "Nutty Professor II: The Klumps," "The Perfect Storm" and "Thomas and the Magic Railroad."

Ticket prices are $6 for adults, $4 for children and seniors. All shows before 6 p.m. will be $4 for all tickets. Radio station WRAR-FM 105.5 will be giving away movie tickets on the air throughout the weekend.

STILL OPEN FOR BUSINESS. Good news, Williamsburg movie fans. Despite the fact that Carmike Cinemas Inc., the nation's third-largest theater chain, filed for bankruptcy this week, the two Carmike theaters in Williamsburg don't appear to be affected.

It was business as usual at the Carmike Cinema 4 in the Monticello Shopping Center and at Carmike Cinemas at the Williamsburg Crossing Shopping Center on Wednesday, one day after Carmike filed for Chapter 11 to seek protection from debtors.

"As far as we know, we are still open just like always," said a theater manager who did not give her name. "We haven't heard anything telling us otherwise, so everything's just the same here."

Rather than closing existing theaters, a spokeswoman for the chain said, Carmike will stop developing new cinemas and might sell off some surplus assets.

HOPKINS RETURNS. Academy Award winner Anthony Hopkins, who spent the summer in Richmond for the filming of the "Silence of the Lambs" sequel "Hannibal," will be back in the area this fall as "Hearts in Atlantis" begins filming in late September.

The movie, based on the Stephen King novel of the same name, will be primarily shot in Richmond, tentatively from late September through December. It is directed by Scott Hicks ("Snow Falling On Cedars" and "Shine").

The production is currently hiring for crew positions. Resumes can be faxed to Donna Bloom at (804) 359-8624. A spokeswoman for Castle Rock Entertainment said the film probably will use some local actors as well, but the Virginia Film Office has no information yet on the availability of positions as extras.

FESTIVAL REMINDER: The official guide for this year's Virginia Film Festival will come out late next month. Once the guide is sent out, tickets will go on sale to the festival in Charlottesville, which annually brings top-notch movies as well as well- known guests to serve on panel discussions.

This year's festival, scheduled for Oct. 26-29, is titled "Animal Attractions" and will explore the use of animals in relation to humans through movies such as "Cat People" and "The Planet of the Apes" series.

To get on the festival's mailing list, call 1-800-881-3378 - that's 1-800-UVA-FEST - or visit the Web site at www.vafilm.com. The box office will be open for in-person and phone sales in October. Look for more information in upcoming Screen Time columns.

Mike Holtzclaw can be reached at 928-6479 or by e-mail at mholtzclaw@dailypress.com